Alistrati Cave

Alistrati Cave in Serres

Alistrati cave lies about 6 km southeast of the village of Alistrati at a place called “Petroto” in Serres . The expanse of the area is almost 14.000 square meters.

At a distance of 250 km from the southern part of the entrance of the Alistrati cave it passes the railway line from Serres to Drama.

As a result of the water flow of the river the limestone layers of the mountain has been corroded and the ravine of Aggitis river has been shaped

Temperatures in the Alistrati Cave

Because of the thin limestone layers above (10-30m) the temperature of the Alistrati cave is quite high (15-17oC). Temperature is stable even in the winter because the airing of the Alistrati cave is less than the proper. In May humidity is high (95-105%) and it’s quite stable all year long. According to a study of the atmospheric conditions of the cave all chambers are sufficiently air-filled. The temperature inside the cave is stable all year long for the formation of a cubic centimeter of a stalactite it will take at least 100 years.

Ecosystem of the Alistrati Cave

According to Dr.Seeman, the Austrian official researcher of the Alistrati cave, the last time a rock fell was 700.000 years ago. Very impressive is the big variety of stalactites and stalagmites inside the cave mostly because of the difference of their shapes and their age.

The biological interest in the ecosystem of the Alistrati cave is extremely high, because of its size and its impressive bat populations. Some of the kinds which have been found: Amphibians, Mammals, Rhinolophus Mehelyi, Rhinolophus Euryale, Myotis Myotis, Myotis Blythi, Myotis Capaccini, Miniopterus Schreibersi. Thousands of bats more into the cave in order to nest and being reproduced, mainly in the summer. Some other mammals that have been found in the cave accidentally are: rabbit, mouse, fox and weasel

The explored surface of the cave is of 25000 m and length of 3000 m, with parts of different breadths. These parts as those of all of the caves in Greece, belong to the quaternary period and consequently the faunae too, belongs to the same period , dated at 2.000000 years ago.